Is there value to taking multivitamins?

I think the idea is that you’ll pee out excess vitamins, so if you’re already getting sufficient nutrition through your food, you probably won’t gain anything. But it can be difficult to get in the daily value of all necessary vitamins through food alone.

There is value in taking them, they supplement a lot of vitamins and nutrients your body may not be getting from your regular food intake. If you eat healthy as it is, the value goes down, but it still helps.

It is true you pee a lot of the stuff in vitamins out, because in an attempt to market to people companies cram 100’s of percents of your daily intake of everything in there. It may say 200% of your daily vitamin C… which is great and all, but it ignores that your body can only process like 20–30% of your daily vitamin C in one sitting.

You could try cutting them in half. They’ll last longer and be easier to swallow.

(fish oil is a helpful one too, its good for your joints)

I do not eat enough fruits and vegetables to get all the vitamins and minerals I should so I take a variety pack of supplements. I prefer to buy each seperate and take what I need. I need more calcium and vit D than are in multivites for example. And I can’t abide that seafood stuff so I take fish oil!

They have helped me enormously.
I was taking mega doses of supplements back when I had trouble walking due to MS.They are geared towards reducing inflammation.Within three days of following my regimen,I was back to walking my usual few miles a day.
I definitely notice a difference if I miss a few days.

Nope. Not if you don’t have a documented vitamin deficiency.

No sites to link for you, sorry, but I’m with LucyThrice on the anecdotal. When I remember, I do much better. I’ve had some doctors tell me they’re a waste of money, and others recommend them, so I go with how I feel.

So this is the usual problem. I get anecdotal support from those who insist they have seen an improvement from taking vitamins, and @Rarebear, a physician, states they are not beneficial. This is the problem. Obviously my instinct is to trust the intelligent physician, but I can’t ignore @lucillelucillelucille stating it helped her with her MS recovery.

I’m skeptical of claims that herbal remedies work without some solid science behind the claims to support the conclusion. I have no reason to think St John’s Wort cures depression, garlic helps cleanse the body of toxins, or glucosamine pills ease joint pain. Similarly, I have no reason to believe these are all false statements. Further, I don’t particularly trust everything the FDA says for reasons not worth getting into on this thread.

@Rarebear Do you mind explaining why the supplements are not necessary? My guess is that while much is excreted, you get some % of the dose that provides nutrition, like @Mariah says. But again, I don’t know. Hence my question.

Here you go. These pretty much outline my thoughts on the matter.
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4103
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4216

Ok, I just read both. The first mostly hammers on the myth that taking vitamin C can help prevent colds, and also warns of the dangers of vitamin overdosing. If one takes a daily multivitamin, that can’t lead to overdosing, right? Anyways, I am convinced by the 30 studies linked in that article, showing vitamin C didn’t reduce cold symptoms (at least as convinced as I can generally be about anything). But again, my concern with the value of taking multivitamins isn’t only about cold prevention as it pertains to vitamin C.

Also, the second article didn’t seem very relevant. It discusses why one need not shun certain foods that haven’t been available throughout evolution, but I don’t have a problem with that. I get his argument about amino acids, carbohydrates, etc… But it doesn’t really get at the heart of my question. Don’t misunderstand this to mean I don’t appreciate you sending me the articles to read though. Besides, we have enough of an established rapport that I hope it is clear I’m not being disrespectful.

I really, really want to know the truth on this one. Maybe I didn’t eat a very healthy meal on a particular day and the multivitamin will fill a nutritional gap the next morning? Maybe it’s always of little value? Maybe it always plugs nutritional gaps for things I missed in recent meals? Don’t know.

OK. Here’s the truth. Bottom line. If you’re healthy and you eat a healthy well balanced diet, there is no need for supplements. The multibillion dollar totally unregulated supplement industry would like you to believe otherwise, but it’s just not true.

What do you think about drinking protein shakes after lifting weights? I do that, or if I play a heavy session of sports, just to ensure I’m getting enough protein. Do you know anything about that?

Oh, and what about my point about if you ate like crap for a few days? Would multivitamins help then? Picture if you’re traveling and eating at Old Chicago, McDonalds, and having beers in the evenings.

In order of your questions:
Protein shakes: Probably no benefit. If you’re an elite athlete then there may be benefit, but even then it’s probably pseudoscience.

Eating like crap—don’t worry about it. There are actually plenty of vitamins in McDonalds food. Just mixed in with a ton of fat and salt.

So all these weight lifting gurus that say you should ingest a gram of protein per pound of body weight are basing those statements on mainly bs? Maybe that’s just serious power lifters and such, not regular dudes like me.

What about all that stuff about building muscle mass with supplements? I’m not into that (never have been, never will, don’t care), but is there really nothing shy of steroids one can do to boost the rate of muscle growth beyond just lifting lots of weights?

Just curious. I know I’m off topic, but it’s my question and no one else is chiming in in favor of multivitamins at the moment.

My running theory is that the people who are more likely to take vitamins are also the people who are more likely to eat a balanced diet thus nullifying out or peeing out any benefits.

Good point. A vitamin-taker would likely lead a more health conscious life.

@cockswain Okay THAT is a LOT of protein. I doubt that particular advice is healthy.

Well, I’m really not an elite body builder myself so I can only give you a professional opinion. I did have a nurse once who was a body builder and he had protein powder shakes and creatine, and all that stuff. Does it help? Probably not. Also, taking a super high protein diet can cause renal failure.

Makes you wonder if elite athletes are getting the best information. But as a physician, you’re sort of taking a hard-lined stance against some of the stuff they teach in sports medicine, at least with regards to nutrition. Or at least what I assume they teach since I’ve read and heard it for years.

I’ve seen guys that get way into creatine and protein. I saw a recent headline debunking the effectiveness of creatine use. I tend to think it is more their dedication to lifting more than the supplements that is the source of their muscle mass. Plus, thinking you’ve got “the right stuff” in your body may give you the mental edge you need to push yourself to go heavier. Sort of a placebo effect.

What diet do you think is optimal? I am a fan of the zone diet, and loosely employ it by eating small frequent, nutritious meals, avoiding excessive carb-loaded meals to avoid insulin spikes.

I heard maybe a year ago, they are not what they are cracked up to be. Better to just eat the real food.

I read somewhere that taking vitamin supplements is correlated with, if not causally linked to, reduced longevity.

There’s an article here that links increased mortality to certain anti-oxidant supplements.

@the100thmonkey Interesting. The problem with the article that they cited was that it was a metaanalyses which has its own biases. I’ll have to pull the original article when I get a chance and look at it. I’m guessing that the press release over states the risk.

Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble. That means that they stay in the body, you don’t need them every day. What you don’t use is stored in your fat cells. The B vitamins and vitamin C are water soluble. You need these every day and what you don’t use is peed out. It is remotely possible to build up too much in the fat soluble vitamins, but that’s why there are less of those, and minerals, in a multivitamin than the water solubles. This has a nice little chart to tell you possible overdose side effects of the fat soluble vitamins.

All my docs have said no to vits and for general health and well being, just eat good and you get all the vits you need. For medical issues though there may be some health benefits for loading up on certain vitamins. This same doc has me taking Nicin to help control my Cholesterol. The biggest issue I see is people don’t take the time to educate themselves on the types, amounts and quality of the supplements they take and that is why so many “experts” can say that multivitamins from the drugstore just makes your pee more expensive and for the most part they are correct!

There’s seems to be some value to pregnant women, even when they already have a healthy diet. But only a specific subset of multivitamins is needed.